


Raft Guides Drabble

by supurbangothic



Category: Raft Guides RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Near-Death Experience, White-Water Rafting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-11 21:53:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10475226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supurbangothic/pseuds/supurbangothic
Summary: So my family went white-water rafting on vacation and our guide recounted a near-death experience that happened to him. I took some creative liberties with his story and made it a little gay. So.





	

Watching Jason go overboard shouldn't be as heart-stopping as it is, but a lot of things in Andrew’s life are contradictory like that. His rational mind tells him that Jason will be fine, that they've been trained for situations like this, that the brunette is one of the best river guides the company has. Another part of his brain is looking down-river. Not thirty seconds away from where Jason’s raft just capsized, there's a dizzying fifteen foot drop. Jason is swimming against the current, strong strokes keeping him fixed in place, but he can only fight against the rapids for so long.

  
Andrew’s heart jumps into his throat when Jason’s head goes under the water. It's barely a second, but the blond finds himself breathing hard as Jason reemerges. He reaches for a rope, frantically unlooping it from its coil and throwing it to Jason.

  
He misses. The float on the end of the rope smacks the water six feet to Jason's right. Jason stretches out an arm towards it, but he can't reach. He's getting closer to the falls now, and Andrew sees with blood-chilling clarity the tree trunk spanning across the river below. It's acting as a strainer, creating a current below that could drag Jason to the bottom and drown him, if he's not clotheslined by the tree itself. Jason sees it too, and when he looks back at Andrew his eyes look equal parts panicked and resolved.

  
“Not today, you adrenaline junkie..” Andrew mutters as he grabs a second rope, his hands shaking so bad he can barely get it uncoiled. Although he knows he's wasting precious seconds, he aims his throw with absolute precision. This time, when he throws, Jason grabs hold and clings to the rope for dear life, mere seconds from going over the fall.

  
Andrew pulls him back frantically, all his concentration bent on keeping his raft stable and getting Jason out of the water. When Jason reaches the raft, Andrew grabs him by his life vest and hauls him aboard. He _should_ let go at that point, the danger is over and he needs to get them back on the line, but his heart is hammering in his chest and he can't bring himself to do anything but hold onto Jason and try to stop the tremors in his limbs.

  
“You crazy reckless _idiot_ , Jason. _Jesus_.” His voice is equally as shaky as his body as he breathes the words into Jason's hair, but he cannot be bothered to give a shit. If Jason is at all perturbed by his clinging, he doesn't show it. In fact, the older man wraps his arms around Andrew’s torso, pulling the blond closer.

  
“Sorry. Won't happen again.” He says, sounding shaken but genuinely apologetic. Andrew almost wants to laugh, because Jason almost just _died_ , and of course _he's_ the one placating _Andrew_. He manages to avoid laughing at his friend’s life-or-death experience, thankfully. Instead he hugs Jason closer to his chest, resting his chin on the brunette’s shoulder.

  
“Just glad you're safe. You scared the shit out of me, man.” He squeezes Jason around the shoulders one last time before pulling back. He expects Jason to do the same, but he stays exactly where he is. There's a small smile on his face, and Andrew looks at him curiously, a little worried for his sanity. Most rational thought is abandoned, however, when Jason reaches out and threads their fingers together.

  
“Sorry.” he says again, eyes flickering to their joined hands and then back up to search Andrew’s face. The blond wears a mask of pleasant surprise, and he doesn't lean away when Jason tilts his face forward so their foreheads are touching. Jason's eyes take up most of his field of vision, pupils blown wide and dark from adrenaline. Andrew’s heartbeat hasn't slowed down since Jason fell in the river, and now he feels it must be hammering hard enough for Jason to hear.

  
His mouth feels dry as sand, but he tries to talk anyway. His voice comes out as a breathless whisper, “Jason, I-”

  
And then Jason is moving forward, pressing their lips together and effectively cutting off whatever nervous babble Andrew had been about to say. The kiss is chaste and innocent enough, all they have time for in their current surroundings. But the way Jason's mouth lingers on his own feels like a promise, some kind of shift in their relationship, and it has Andrew’s stomach doing somersaults in ways that no class V rapids have ever managed before.

  
After a moment, Jason pulls back and grins at him, all crooked lips and dark eyes. Andrew can't help but return his smile and brush a strand of long, wet hair away from Jason's face. Squeezing the brunette’s hand, Andrew twists away to grasp at a spare paddle and hands it to Jason. Jason thanks him and accepts it, breaking the contact of their hands and Andrew tries not to mourn the loss. If the way Jason presses up against him for the rest of their trip down the river is any indication, he has nothing to worry about.


End file.
